Honduran National Caught in Portland with Ten Pounds of Fentanyl and a Sweetener Used to Cut Drugs

PORTLAND, Ore. — An Illegal immigrant has been sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to possession and conspiracy to distribute fentanyl in Oregon.

Edis Odalis Centeno Banegas (45), a Honduran national living illegally in Portland, appeared in court on Monday and was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.

Fentanyl and a Low-Calorie Sugar Substitute Used As a Cutting Agent Were Seized in a Traffic Stop

Banegas and a co-conspirator were arrested on September 6, 2023, in a traffic stop organized by law enforcement drug trafficking officers. The police seized fentanyl and Super Mannitol, a low-calorie powder sugar substitute used as a cutting agent with fentanyl.

Officers searched Banegas’s home and a storage unit later the same day and seized 10 pounds of fentanyl and the powdered sugar substitute. They also seized counterfeit pills containing fentanyl, arms and ammunition, and processing equipment, including a scale, blender, and masks.

Banegas was charged with possession and conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, possession of a firearm to further a drug trafficking crime by a Portland federal grand jury in September 2023. He pleaded guilty to possession and conspiracy to distribute fentanyl on February 5, 2025.

The case was investigated by the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, Westside Interagency Narcotics team, Portland Police Department, and the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office. The prosecutor was Scott M. Kerin, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Oregon District.